The Stations of the Cross

At every Mass offered anywhere in the world, participants have the privilege, through the words and gestures of the Mass, of accompanying Christ in His once-for-all Sacrifice of His Life to His Father on Calvary.
 
Lent gives us yet another means of meditating on the Passion; the fourteen Stations (or Way) of the Cross, put before our mind's eye the events of Christ's Passion from His condemnation by Pilate to His burial. This devotion, which can, of course, be practised every day of the year, is available in a variety of formats; very young children will benefit from being taken and shown the pictures in church, with a very simple explanation from Parents (or, maybe, they can be asked to tell the story in their own words). 

Others of us may already have a 'favourite' Stations book we use; even those who are now housebound can still make the Stations this way. There is probably even an App for our Smart-phone!
 
A beautiful, simple and soul-searching version is that by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, published by CTS. For those of us who are 'into' mp3 players etc. this version can be downloaded free from HERE. A further, more contemporary meditation by Father Hugh Thwaites, S.J. is available HERE. Of course there are many versions available; it all depends on what we hope to gain, spiritually, from this great Devotion. EWTN Catholic TV is well worth looking at.
 
How we meditate on the Passion is up to us. If we really don't have time to come and make the Stations in church (on our own, if we prefer) or to spend a half-hour or so making them at home, why not try, daily, during Lent, to say the beautiful Act of Contrition which is often part of the Way of the Cross: "I love Thee, Jesus, my love above all things! I repent with my whole heart of having offended Thee! Never permit me to separate myself from Thee again. Grant that I may love Thee always and then do with me what thou wilt!

The image is of Michelangelo's Pieta, sculpted from marble between 1498 and 1500, and seen in the Basilica of St. Peter, Rome